Mohawk

The Mohawk, who identify as the Kanien'kehá:ka, are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois. The Mohawk were historically present in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York, located west of the Hudson River. During the 1610s, the Mohawk gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch settlers by prohibiting neighboring tribes from trading with them, and the Dutch, as allies of the Mohawk, formed settlements at Schenectady and Schoharie. During the Pequot War of 1634-38, the Mohawk killed the Pequot sachem Sassacus when he came to them for refuge, and the Mohawk went to war with the Pequot from 1664 to 1671, destroying the Pequot tribe. The Mohawk also went to war with the French from the 1660s to 1680s, burning down their Catholic mission. From the 1690s, Protestant missionaries converted several Mohawk, many of whom were baptized with English surnames, while others were also given English first names. During the wars between France and England, the Mohawk conducted a growing trade in captives. British agent William Johnson succeeded in forging an alliance with the Mohawk during the French and Indian War of the 1750s and 1760s, and the Mohawk maintained their alliance with Britain during the American Revolutionary War. The colonists retaliated with the Sullivan Expedition, destroying Iroquois villages and crops; the Mohawk were forced to migrate to Canada for refuge near Fort Niagara in order to survive the winter. After the Revolution's end, the Americans forced the Mohawk to give up their lands, and many of them settled in Canada and along the Great Lakes. During the War of 1812, the Mohawk would again side with Britain against the Americans. Today, 23,682 Mohawk live in Canada, while 5,632 live in the United States.